My Compost Hole - "The Pit"

[Guest]

Hello All - Its my first post here...

I stayed up all night (few days ago) reading compost threads & it got me fired up.. S.Queen



When the sun broke for light in the morning I set out in the back yard to dig a hole.. And boy I keep diggin' hard all day (no sleep still) 30 hrs up, this Speed Q is a real get up & go

Final dimentions on "The Pit"
4 - 6 ft deep
4- 6 ft wide
6 - 8 ft long

" I just felt like diggin' "

Its a big hole - Hard diggin.. LOTS of shale rocks...
Probally pulled tons out..

Saved alot of rocks for drainage & some juicy bark strips for whatever..



These are just a few of the big rocks..





Alot deeper than it looks - need a shovel for reference..

 

[Guest]

Heres the best part - there is a local farm that has a (Shit Pile) of Cow manure right by the road... Its huge - TONS of differnet staged cow maunure, dry, juicy, stinky, its worm infested..





Boot print - Some spots are so soft you might sink & die in there..











There is alot of micro orgainism stuff going on in that poo pile..

Totally FREE - Im loading the truck full tommowow night..

 

[Guest]

My reason for posting is to find help managing the (layers) of the pit ?

Rocks & some sand on the bottom ?

How much poo to mix in ?

I was thinking on like 1.5 ft rocks - some sand ? - then burn some leaves / sticks to clean up the woods & make a (ash) layer on top of the drainage items or should I do a sick / leaf burn on top ? Compost Noob Here ????

It has lots more rocks below so drainage is great already - unlimited premo cow maunure - rotten sticks / leaves galore..



It will be a storage / upgrade / staging area for Fox Farm stuff to get there pre grow mix marinade on

 

[Guest]

Might add my current supply list to see if I might have missed something important or got carrired away with ? Prices look good ?

Soil Mix
FoxFarm's LIGHT WARRIOR Agro-ponic Grow Medium $19.95 $39.90 X2
FoxFarm's Ocean Forest Potting Mix 1.5 Cubic Feet $20.95 $41.90 X2
FoxFarm's Happy Frog Potting Soil $17.95 $71.80 X4
Fertilizer Combo - FoxFarm Liquid Soil Formula - 3 Pack $39.95
Peace Of Mind Starter Food - Starter Food 7.95 $15.90 X2
Peace of Mind All-Purpose - All Purpose $7.95 $15.90 X2
Peace Of Mind Steamed Bone Meal $7.95 $15.90 X2
Black Gold Orchid Mix - 12 Quart $8.95 $17.90 X2
Vermiculite - 8 quart bag $4.25 $8.50 X2
Sunleaves Piece Coir - 40 Liter $12.95 $25.90 X2
Wiggle Worm Earth Worm Castings 30 lbs. $17.95
Sunleaves Silica Stone - 2 liter $4.95



Nutes

Earth Juice META-K - Earth Juice META-K $10.95
Earth Juice Catalyst - Earth Juice Catalyst $10.95
Earth Juice Natural pH Up & Down Combo $23.95
Earth Juice Grow and Bloom - $19.95
Earth Juice MICRO BLAST - Earth Juice MICRO BLAST $11.95
JumpStart by Advanced Nutrients - 1 Liter $15.40
Budswel Mix $19.95
SuperTea Mix $19.95
Sweet Leaf Sweet Leaf $24.20
Hygrozyme $36.95

got 5% off those prices for the big order ?



Thanks Fellow Dirt Heads

 

[3BM]

Wow CGR that is one labor of love. Nice work :jawdrop:

While I admire your interest in the project, I feel you might be making things harder on yourself than necessary. Those rocks would work great in a landscaping project incidentally; I love shale for garden walls. You could compost just as easily in a pile as in a pit, but since you have the hole might as well use it. The key to composting successfully is two part: proper C/N ratio and balancing moisture/air. In this pit you may lose out on some oxygen that a standing pile would get from sidelong breezes. To combat this tendency keep the pile active through regular turning; I suspect this wont be a problem for you. Once a week at least you should shovel the hole mix around.

Dont get me wrong, compost is really quite simple. For example you could just take a heap of that manure and mix it with some leaves and grass in the pit then forget about it for a year. This is a passive form of compost, and will produce a high quality finished product. However, you dont have to wait a year if you dont want to. Active compost piles involve regular turning to maintain high temperatures. An active pile can yield finished compost in 4 weeks.

The long of this discussion is in a thread called "Composting 101", I would link to it but dont know how
Look to that for more on getting the right conditions in your pile. As for your specific situation, you are sitting on a gold mine with that manure pile. Aged manure works best in a compost pile, so try to gather the dry hunks rather than the wet muck. Pretty soon the muck will dry out so you can go back for it as necessary. Grass clippings and leaves are a nice complement to manure. Manure is about perfect as is really and will compost on its own, just toss in other materials to increase the volume and diversity of the pit. Nothing beats food waste from your kitchen/garden. Never put animal fat into the pile since it will attract pests, smells bad, and break down VERY slowly. I avoid meat for the same reasons. Coffee grounds, carrot peels, cucumber peel, melon rind, citrus skin, leafy greens, etc all are great. Really just anything you can get your hands on. Have some fun with that pit, and keep us updated!
Great job documenting the set up by the way

3bm

 

[Tradescantia]

have fun stirring that up.

 

[Guest]

Im back...

Decided to go with using the Pit as a burn pile to get the level up (better to have lush ash in there than the clay).. It was also a good way to get the woods cleared - been needing to do that anyway..

Put MASSIVE amounts of dyed wood / bark / leaves / whatever natural stuff that would burn..












Mixed in the large shale chunks as drainage / filler throughout the burn..



See the manure from my midnight run on the poo pile..



This is the millionth load of fuel for this wood eater - burned it hard for 6 to 8 hrs.. (WOOD BURNS TO VERY SMALL AMOUNTS) cleared acres & got it up 3 feet - plus got the entire rock pile in the first days pics added back in for good drainage / aeration.







Added a layer of large shale flat to mark the top of the rock section - thinking drainage / environment is going to be execllent under there..





Had some rain move in & it killed the day.. Planning on burning some more wood (for ash) to be removed & added to the blend when I mix in my Fox Farm (Super Mix)..

 

[Deft]

Interesting, I just had an idea on how I can clear out roots... with fire!! If you have a fire place just use it during winter and burn just wood with no starters that are going to leave half burnt fule around. That way you can get tons of ash for the growing season, I do it for my blueberries.

 

[Guest]

You do not have to burn all the trees down, just get a out door fireplace at a yard sale or make one. Burn the dead crap that is in the way and leave the rest for nature to take its course. If you are ever going to grow outside just trim the trees to let in light, it will keep them healthy and all you have to do is ammend the soil if around pine. Also, adding things like bannanas, corn cobs and different types of wood to the fire will change the nutrients in your finished product. You do not have to burn to make compost or dig, unless you want a slower compost, to many ashes will mess up th PH of your soil and your compost.

 

[judas cohen]

I admire/respect your substantial investment in money/labor/documentation! I think 3BM and wauii are giving you very good advice.

The soil/ferts you plan to use are pretty much ph compatible. Too much ash will send your ph through the roof. I would hate to see you ruin the soil you purchased by your apparent "if more is good, than too much is better!" approach. Be careful, hombre!

I'm following this thread with much interest. Happy Growing!

 

[Guest]

Alright - Worked down at the Compost Pit most of the day (Layering the Cake)..




Started to give the whole area a good layer of hay / straw then a layer of thick weed grass that was growing nearby to keep rocks / sticks from getting in the mix & it really prettied up the area..





Then mixed up a grog of Advanced Nutes Tarantula & Scorpion - added most of the bags during the day in layers to try to introduce good fungi & bacteria to chill out & grow in me pit



Mixed 1/4 truck load (pure aged manure) & hay in layers mixing in the A.N. Grog in stages.



Now fer the Blend..



All the Fox Farm:
Happy Frog X 4
Ocean Forest X 2
Light Warrior X 1
Big N Chunky Perlite - 1/4 big bag
2 Coir Bricks
Black Gold X 1
Earthworm Casings 20 lb
Verm

Tarantula / Scorpion were added thought the mix along with another 3/4 FULL TRUCK LOAD of some premo soil found on the far side of the manure pile.. It makes the Fox Farm stuff look like junk, Real dark & full of worms, looks to be 95% PREMO soil not cow crap like the rest of the pile there. Gonna load up some more of that..



Pics dont give that justice..

Had some fruit / veggies from the week that got tossed in along with some turkey feathers / dog / cat hair / deer poo / wild mushrooms / moss / & a few other strange things that I fogot.. & lots of big n' chunky..

* Alot of Coffee (Folgers) - Tea (Lipton)



Coco Mix was added from bottom to top..




Got to ripped & forgot to take pics of the finished mound.. Its up to a very manageable depth to toss around..

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the info on the PH thing with ash.. From the burn layer (rocks n' ash) I capped that off with the large flat rocks so thats dead bottom for good stuff. Was going to add some ash to the mix but the sticks were wet from a rain so none was added yet.

Got a cool spot for a fire pit right near the compost pile to do some small burns & introduce ash in the future in what I know now (small quantiles)..

The inferno I had going probably killed the roots for the next 100 years around the pit..

* With the large amount of manure thats going to be added - Do I need to add some Lime in the mix ?

After I let it brew for a few weeks - I will do a PH soil water sample with my Digital Hanna..

Dolomite lime what I should use if needed ?